In addition to her plethora of plants, her husband, Phil Zaugg, has constructed an amazing miniature train set that runs through the backyard.

Fluer said she’s been gardening for years, but now that she has more time, she spends extra time with the plants. Moving into her first house in Minnesota, years ago, she inherited from the previous owner a plot in the yard that was called “Grandma’s Garden.”

“I felt a real guardianship for that garden, and kept adding to it and making it more sophisticated,” she said.

At the currrent house, the yard is shade-covered, so she’s learned a new type of gardening.

Some of the challenges remind her of the old news days:

“In Minnesota, for both politics and gardening you need a sense of humor,” she says.